Dear friends, people I’ve met on retreats and on the train..

Would you consider supporting me in 2013?

This is the fourth year I’ve held out a begging bowl.  I do a lot for the Dharma – teaching and writing, leading retreats, seminars and quite a few other things – and it doesn’t pay well.  True, some of these activities give me donations which help support me, but they don’t bring in enough, even though my living costs are low.  So I’m writing to ask your help in taking my work for the Dharma further. 

My basic needs will be about £9000 in 2013.  

London is working well for me as a base – I’ve a pleasant and very low rent garden flat in West Hampstead, and I can even hold small events here.  From London it’s easy to get around –  I’ve recently been travelling widely in the UK giving talks and in the autumn was doing weekly Day retreats in Glasgow and the LBC.  

 Since my book, Buddhist Meditation: Tranquillity, Imagination & Insight, was published last spring, I have mostly been teaching.  There were several substantial retreats over the wet British summer, including Padmaloka, Vajraloka and the month-long Total Immersion retreat.  Since then I have concentrated more on the Order, my current project being to persuade the larger Triratna centres to start dharma programmes for local Order members.  I feel very committed to the retreat days I’m doing each week in London.  I have also been hosting other senior teachers on these days and putting videos and audio recordings up on my website – see dharmadoor.org/

I plan to continue that outgoing phase over the spring.  Then over the summer I’ll go into more of a retreat/writing mode.  In the summer I’ll write; in the autumn I’ll be at Guhyaloka leading study on the three month Order retreat.  It’s about time I went on a longer personal retreat, I think. 

Thanks for reading this.  I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.  If you've given before, thanks a lot for your help in the past. 

With all best wishes,

 Kamalashila